"Biblical Doctrine" by Dr. John MacArthur and Dr. Richard Mayhew (book review)

Drs. MacArthur and Mayhue teamed up to write an absolutely phenomenal, monstrous volume on biblical doctrine, which is a "systematic summary of Bible truth", as the subtitle suggests.  The book is divided into 10 chapters...but don't let that small number trick you...these are some very long chapters!...as well as lists of hymns and tables.

What I really liked about this book is its readability.  What I mean by that is this.  I've read some theological books that made my head spin.  One book in particular contained so many fancy words and ideas way above my head that it wasn't really all that enjoyable to read.  I had to have a dictionary handy!  But "Biblical Doctrine" is not like that.  Sure, there are some pretty lofty words and concepts, but I did not experience a sense of drudgery as I read through it.  The "headier" concepts, in my opinion, were explained very well.  To be sure, this book isn't particularly written for a new believer, but one must have at least a basic understanding of Christianity's theology.  But, if a reader is courageous enough, this volume would no doubt impart a vast amount of knowledge to him or her.

Now, for what I didn't like.  I received the e-version for free as a review copy.  I truly appreciate Crossway for giving it to me for free.  However, I think I need to buy the physical copy.  Reading it in Kindle is easy, but any further referencing is pert-near impossible.  Due to it's length, there are only shortcuts to the beginnings of each chapter.  So, if there's something one desires to look up, it will require much effort to find what it is one was looking for in the first place.

I need to explain one feature I liked before I explain a suggested improvement.  I liked the simple outlines of key words located on the very first page of each chapter, each of which briefly state what concepts will be covered in each chapter.  This makes the hunting for concepts much simpler, but would be much more user friendly if each of these introductory key words were quick-linked to their respective e-book locations.

Rating: Overall, I cannot help but give Biblical Doctrine 5 out of 5 stars for its value in the church, in personal studies, and its readability.  However, if you're going to Amazon to spend the $35 for the Kindle version, just do yourself a favor and pay the additional $8 for the hard copy of $41.  You'll be glad you did.

Disclaimer: I received this book free of charge from Crossway Publishers in exchange for my unbiased review of it.  All opinions are mine, and I was not required to provide a positive review of it.